Translator ensures ethnic Uygurs can understand proceedings

Few members could be more integral to a National People’s Congress delegation than Rena Muallip is to the deputies she serves from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The 29-year-old translator plays a vital role — ensuring the delegates who are not fluent in Mandarin can understand proceedings and, in turn, be understood.

“All three of them are village officials. They have asked me to pay more attention to translating suggestions from other delegates on border control and poverty alleviation,” she said.

Dressed in traditional Uygur clothing and with a fondness for bright-red lipstick, it’s hard not to notice Rena when she walks into the room.

Her duties, similar to those of all translation teams assigned to delegations from areas inhabited by ethnic people, include translating discussions and official documents.

Rena, who joined the delegation’s translation team earlier this year, also takes time to study official reports in advance, researching the best way to translate key terms so that she can better communicate national policy.

The mother of two has been skipping lunch during the two sessions, so that she has time to translate the documents drafted in the morning before discussions begin again in the afternoon.

“I need to be fast and accurate so our delegation can be on the same page as the other deputies and air their views without delay,” she said.

“Even though I will not be on TV like Premier Li’s translator, I think my job is equally important.”

A graduate of Nankai University in Tianjin who majored in law, Rena hopes to use her legal expertise to promote the rule of law in Xinjiang in the future, by providing legal information to ethnic groups in a language they can understand.

Journalists from Chinese and foreign media try to ask questions at a news conference held by Education Minister Chen Baosheng in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday.

Two Sessions, One Minute — Lianghui Chinese with China Daily, helps foreigners learn Chinese while also informing a global audience about the annual meetings and what they mean for the country and the world.

Key words are translated, providing a bilingual format that aims to shed light on the direction the nation is heading in.